In a historic, if not desperate move, President Bush finally lifted the executive ban on offshore oil drilling. What took him so long? For almost eight long years we have heard the Republicans talk about an energy plan, but they couldn’t put a package together even when they had the majority. Which in itself is somewhat amazing.
But President Bush finally recognized that Congress was too politically afraid to do anything except blame the oil companies, and each other.  Will anything happen now? Will the Democrats in control of Congress be forced to hold hearings and consider changing the law? Maybe. But they can stall for a long, long time.
“The only thing standing between the American people and these vast oil resources is action from the U.S. Congress,” Bush said in a statement in the Rose Garden. “Now the ball is squarely in Congress’ court.”
“For years, my administration has been calling on Congress to expand domestic oil production,” Bush said. “Unfortunately, Democrats on Capitol Hill have rejected virtually every proposal. And now Americans are paying at the pump.”
Congress must now change the law in order for oil companies and U.S. states to explore off the coasts of the nation. Even if that happened tomorrow most people recognize that we are years away from increasing oil production in the U.S.Â
But those are precious years indeed. Between alternative energy sources, better mileage vehicles, reduced driving by consumers, and greater oil supplies over time, we just may see prices come down.  Will we ever see the lower prices of a few yeas ago? Doubtful. But even if the price of oil fell by a third, we could see pump prices close to a dollar lower.
For now President Bush’s actions are welcome if for no other reason than someone in a leadership position is doing something.  We’ve called for an Energy Summit before, and maybe this is the first step on that path.
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